Come back home
by ffrackles
Summary: Sam comes home after a few months working undercover. AndyxSam drabble, set in the near future.


**Disclaimer: I do not own any of these wonderful, wonderful characters.**

Andy wobbled through the station doors, and found her way to the main floor where she found the closest chair she could get to and slumped down into it. It was uncomfortable, but everything was with the size she was currently at.

Looking around the room, it was quiet. Maybe they were all being briefed about some big case. She wouldn't know, she hadn't been allowed out on the field for five months. She was at desk duty for four, before they wouldn't let her in anymore. The fact that she couldn't fit in her uniform didn't exactly help either.

"Andy, what are you doing here?" she heard Traci's voice behind her, before she sheepishly turned the chair around and looked at her best friend.

"I missed you?"

"Nice try, we went for a coffee yesterday. And you are supposed to be on bedrest, Sam would kill you if he knew you were here."

Traci sat down on the desk, looking over her friend. Dark, long hair in a messy bun, face free from makeup, tight long sleeved shirt and sweatpants that probably belonged to her husband of two years. She looked tired.

"That's the whole issue, okay?" Andy blurted out, and Traci wasn't prepared for the tear struck eyes that met hers. "He's not here, and I'm lonely. I miss working, I miss _him_. I haven't seen him in a month, Trace, and I barely remember the sound of his voice. This isn't okay! And this little spawn of his was supposed to get out two days ago, and he's on a stupid undercover mission, and he's not here, and he promised he'd be here, and I can't do this without him. I can't!"

"Okay, okay, shh," Traci tried to calm down Andy, placing a gentle hand on the evergrowing stomach, smiling when she felt a strong kick from the inside. "See all these cops around here?"

Andy looked around her and saw Oliver grabbing his gear, leading the way of a couple of officers, Chris smiling at her before he realized he was supposed to gear up and leave. Andy nodded slowly, biting her lower lip as she looked up at the woman next to her again.

"We got a call about an hour ago, Frank has been briefing us on Sam's case. They're ready for an arrest, Shaw is leading a taskforce in for backup, not that they'll need it. You know Sam, he's the best."

"They'll arrest the guy? Today?" her voice was tiny, hopeful. "I'll get to see him tonight?"

"With a little luck, he'll walk through these doors in an hour or two. And that fat, you won't get up any time soon anyway, so you want a cup of tea?"

Andy laughed through her tears, hating what these stupid pregnancy hormones had done to her. But she was happier now than she had been in months, so she wasn't sure why she was crying. She was finally going to see Sam again. She hated him for going undercover, hated it even more because she couldn't be there to have his back. She hadn't been his partner since they officially came out as a couple almost four years ago, but it still felt safer knowing they were both in uniform, working the same big cases.

And now he was working solo, had been for two months. The department promised it would be a short one, a few weeks, no more. Two weeks turned to three, turned to four, and last time she had seen him, they had accidentally been at the same coffe house. He was there with the very same guy he was going to arrest today, and couldn't do more than flash a smile after holding the door open for a pregnant lady, giving her an_ "hello, miss."_ Andy had gone back into the car and cried for an hour after that.

"Yeah, I'd like some tea."

Traci patted her knee and got up in a swift motion, leaving Andy alone for a few moments. She was going to see Sam today, he was actually going to be there when their child was brought into the world. They hadn't found out the sex of the baby, they wanted it to be a surprise. Which turned into a difficulty and an argument when they prepared the nursery. They had finally settled on painting the walls in a bright, warm yellowish color, while the rest of the nursery went in dark walnut. Of course, Sam hadn't been there to buy most of the stuff. Like the crib, or clothes. Diapers. Andy had saved every receipt in case he wouldn't like any of the things she had bought. She loved it though, she wouldn't back down and actually change anything. But keeping the receipts helped somehow.

Suddenly she felt a jabbing pain in the lower part of her stomach, and she gasped while grabbing her round belly with both hands.

"No, no, not now. Please, not now," she pleaded through the pain, knowing what it meant. Stupid kid had picked today of all days to come out. Two days late. A few hours too early. As soon as the contraction was over, she struggled to get out of the chair and started to walk as fast as she could toward the coffee machine. She found Traci talking to Williams and Frank, swallowing hard.

"Hey, Trace, I don't need that tea. I need a hospital."

Traci recognized the look on her face, "Did your water break?"

Shaking her head frantically, Andy bit her lip and tried to fight the laugh that for some reason wanted to leave her lips. Why did she feel like laughing? She wasn't supposed to be laughing right now.

"Okay, I'm gonna take you to the hospital. I'll call your doctor, tell them you're coming."

"Sam?"

"I'll try to reach him," Frank assured her and Andy nodded, grabbing Traci's hand as hard as she could, letting her friend lead her through the station and toward one of the cruisers. She hadn't been in one for months, and she hadn't expected to be in one now. But it would be faster than waiting for the ambulance to arrive.

Andy stayed quiet during the drive, squeezing Traci's hand when the second contraction hit her. This one was longer, hurt more. But if Andy hurt Traci, she never showed it.

"Do you think he'll make it?"

"Yeah, he'll make it."

—

"Are you fucking kidding me!?" Sam winced, trying his best to fight the automatic motion to push the paramedic away, but that would most likely cause him more pain so he tried to sit still.

He had expected this arrest to be an easy one, not a second guy walking up behind him, shooting him in the shoulder. Good thing everyone else was just around the corner. Instead of arresting one guy, they took two. Maybe him getting shot was a good thing.

"Sammy, you okay?"

"I've been worse, pal. Just get me home."

"Not gonna happen, sir. That bullet is still in there, we need to take it out. Evidence."

Sam stared the paramedic down, his brown eyes growing harder and harder by the second, but the paramedic wouldn't budge. He was young, but held his ground.

"You saw the guy shoot me, you can take the bullet out some other day," at this point he turned to his old friend. "I just wanna go home."

Oliver grimaced, placing his hands in his pockets. He had seen Andy at the station before he left, he knew she'd still be there. Traci had most likely informed her about the arrest. She'd be there waiting for Sam, and he also knew Andy was supposed to be on bedrest. Sam would… not be happy.

"Look, Oliver, I haven't seen my wife in a month. My baby was supposed to be born two days ago, as a far as I know, I might have a son or a daughter right now without even knowing about it."

"You don't," Shaw confessed and Sam looked a little relieved at least. "Look man, she won't even be home. She's at the station, I saw her before going here. She's still very round, no baby in her arms. I'll call Nash, have her take her to the hospital, she'll meet you there. You know we need that bullet, Sam. We could build a case without it, but c'mon Sam. You know how this works."

Sam got up, staring his friend down. "What do you mean she's at the station? She's not supposed to be out, the doctor ordered bedrest two weeks ago, you told me that in a very, very cryptic text message a while ago."

Oliver Shaw backed up a few steps, trying to flash a smile. "I don't know, I never got the chance to even ask her. If I would have, maybe I wouldn't have been here on time, and who knows what you'd get your sorry ass into without me."

"Oh, shut up."

"Just go to the hospital, she'll meet you there and- wait, hang on a sec," Oliver picked up his ringing phone, and Sam tuned out the conversation, looking at the young paramedic next to him. He finally let out a big sigh, and nodded toward him, letting him put a proper bandaid on.

"I'm not going in that thing though," he sounded almost disgusted, staring at the ambulance. He didn't need that, he was barely hurt. Just wounded, a flesh wound. Which might or might not have resulted in a 48' in his left shoulder.

"Are all cops like this?"

"Just the ones named Sam Swarek," Shaw offered, clearly done talking on the phone. He had an expression on his face that Sam couldn't fully read, and he didn't like it. "Come on Sammy, that was Traci. They'll meet us at the hospital."

"Is Andy okay?"

"Yeah," he said, hesitating for a short second. "She's fine. Can't wait to see you."

Wincing as he opened the car door, Sam cursed under his breath as he climbed inside and used all his force to close the door with a loud bang. "Careful, you might ruin the car."

"Asshole," Sam muttered under his breath, and Oliver laughed as he started the car. He knew Sam, knew him all too well. Knew how he worked under pressure, in pain, in good and in the worse of positions. And he liked to curse when he was in pain. This was nothing.

"Oliver, what are you not telling me?"

He didn't speak, just focused on the road ahead of him. They were ten minutes from the hospital, five if he put the sirens on and accelerated. Which maybe he should be doing with a wounded cop next to him. A wounded cop who's wife was in labor without him knowing about it. "Shaw?"

"Okay, fine!" Oliver speed up the car, and he could feel Sam's eyes on him. "Traci and Andy are already at the hospital. They've been there for a few hours, Traci's been trying to reach me for a long time. Both her and Frank."

"Why?" Sam knew why, but he needed to hear it before he could full on panic.

"She's in labor," he said carefully, his eyes flickering between the road and Sam. He could see his friend close his eyes, pinching his nose between his thumb and index finger.

"Just get there, now. I don't care what you have to do, how many laws you have to break, you get me there, right this instant, you hear me?" He had already missed out on too much. He couldn't miss this too, he just couldn't. It was all he had been thinking about as his undercover had gotten deeper and deeper.

It wasn't supposed to be a big case, didn't even wanna do it in the first place. But he was talked into it, was promised it was going to be a short one. He should have known better. There were never short undercover cases. Never. He knew Andy hated him for leaving her, but he was sure he hated himself just as much, if not more. He didn't even want to think about all the stuff she'd had to go through alone. Finishing the nursery, for example. He had secretly loved their arguments about how to decorate it, and he had loved their makeups even more. He had missed her so much, every little thing about her. About them. Hell, he had even missed arguing with her over the smallest things. When he walked toward her in that coffee shop a month ago, he couldn't fight the smile that crossed his face, no matter how hard he tried. She was so beautiful, her round stomach barely hidden underneath her coat. As he had opened the door for her, he let an _"hello, miss,"_ slip from his lips. It wasn't even close to what he wanted to say, and he had to stop himself from reaching out and touching her. Just feeling the warmth of her skin against his. He had swallowed hard as he saw her eyes water up, and had to turn around quickly to shake off the feeling of wanting to comfort her. He couldn't, he'd ruin everything. And as much as he hated this stupid assignment, he couldn't blow it. Couldn't make it worth nothing, because that would mean he'd left Andy for nothing. And he couldn't have that.

Next thing he knew, he ran through the hospital doors and hurried through the hallways. He had no idea where to go, so he had to surrender and ask the old lady at the reception desk. "Andy McNally?"

"Who?"

"_Andrea_ McNally, where is she? What room?" His patience was running out, and the fact that the woman in front of him stared back at him without actually doing anything didn't help. He was just about to reach over the desk and type her name into the system himself when Oliver stopped him, and showed the nurse his badge.

"We're gonna need that information. Now."

Typing fast, but too slowly for Sam's liking, it didn't take too long before Andy's whereabouts left the woman's mouth, and Sam started to run again.

"Sam, you still need that shoulder checked out properly," his friend called after him, not bothering to follow him. There was nothing he could do anyway.

"So, what did that lady do?" the nurse asked, chewing a gum, clearly too curious for her own good. Shaw just clapped the desk with his right hand, and started walking toward the waiting room.

At the same time Sam turned a right, and ran toward Traci, who was pacing back and forth in the corridor.

"Where is she, is she alright?"

"She's in there, she's refusing to push, but she's good."

"Why?" Sam managed to halt into a stop, turning toward the closed door. Suddenly he was very scared, very nervous. This was about to be real. He would be a father soon, and he'd see the love of his life soon. It had been so long.

"Sam, what happened to you?" She had clearly noticed the whole shoulder incident, and Sam shrugged it off, saying it was nothing.

"Why is she refusing to push?"

"You're not there, and you know Andy, she's stubborn. Keeps saying she won't do it without you. Sam, are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine, Trace, just…" he trailed off as he walked toward the door slowly, bracing himself before placing a hand on it. He smiled as he heard the voices from the other side.

_"Andrea, I'm going to need you to push in about two centimeters, it doesn't matter what you say."_

_"I don't care! I'm keeping the baby in there until Sam is here, okay? He should be here soon, he has to be. I'm not doing this without him. I'm just not." _

"You stubborn, stubborn beautiful you," Sam let out as he closed the door behind him, and all eyes turned toward him. Andy barely had the time to take him in before she started to cry, and Sam moved toward her quickly. He hated to see her cry, hated it more than anything in the entire world.

"Baby, I'm here, I'm here," he announced, placing his good hand on the side of her face, leaning toward her for a kiss. It started small, but he deepened it for a short moment before reluctantly taking a step back, refusing to let go of her face. It felt so good to finally see her, to finally touch her, finally kiss her.

"Sam, what happened to you?" she fought her tears, rising her hand toward his shoulder, but letting it fall to his arm. Only now did he realize how he probably looked like. His t-shirt had been cut off in order for the paramedic to properly examine him, there was most likely dried blood on his shirt and arm, and he knew it looked bad to anyone. But of course it looked worse to his wife.

"Had to fight to get through some guys when I heard where you were," he tried to joke, but it didn't work. She just stared at him with those big, beautiful eyes, and he caved. Always did. "Bad arrest. Second guy comes in from nowhere, puts a bullet in my shoulder. It's still there, they're gonna have to take it out. Not that you'll let them come even close to me before that beautiful baby of ours is in your arms, right?"

"Right," Andy tried to smile, just happy to have Sam close to her again, knowing that he was going to be alright, knowing he wouldn't leave. Knowing he would be there for this. Finally trusing in that she could actually do this.

—

Andy was sleeping as Sam quietly opened the door to her room. They had been given a private room, thankfully.

The night had passed since their daughter had been born. It hadn't taken long, the doctor was surprised. Said first borns usually doesn't come into the world so easily. He was just thankful for it. Andy had squeezed Sam's hand so hard at times it hurt more than the bullet in his shoulder. Of course he never said so. Besides, Sam Swarek knew for a fact Andy was in a lot more pain than he was, and he would have gladly taken it all from her, but of course he couldn't do so.

Sam had realized pretty quickly that there wasn't a snowball's chance on him actually holding his daughter with his shoulder in the condition it was in, so he had settled for watching his wife rest with their baby on her chest, smiling and whispering soothing things to the quiet newborn. As the nurses had taken her away, Andy had fallen asleep from exhaustion, and Sam had finally agreed to let a doctor take a look at him. They had argued for about ten minutes when Sam said he wanted to be awake for the surgery. If he went down under, he'd be asleep for a while, and he'd be all groggy afterward. He wanted to be awake and alert, not groggy and slow thinking. This way, Sam got off the table as soon as the bullet was out.

It had taken longer than he wanted to for them to bandage the shoulder, but he was propped on painkillers and he knew his shoulder would be numb for a while longer. So he wasn't worried about pain as he silently walked over to the crib next to Andy's hospital bed, looking down on his daughter.

Using his good arm, he easily swiped his baby girl up into his arm and felt her sleeping form against it. Basked in that feeling. She felt so tiny, so helpless. He wanted to protect her from all the bad in the world, and his heart broke a little, knowing that he couldn't. But it also swell to the triple size, holding this tiny little bundle in his arms. He already loved her so much. He hadn't even known her for ten hours. But she was so perfect. Like her mother, she was the only one to truly make him feel. And she managed to capture his heart in a way no one other than McNally had. But this was different. He loved his wife equally much as his daughter, but it was different. So, so different. And he loved it.

_Katie Samantha Swarek,_ he thought to himself. 7 pounds, 15 inches, a fine dark layer of hair on her tiny head. Her eyes were blue, something they had been informed was usual, and that the eyes would darken within time. She was beautiful. More than that. She was his. _Theirs_.

Katie had been his favorite out of all the names Andy had suggested, and then she had prompted on the middle name to be Samantha. Samuel if it had been a boy. For him.

He had agreed as long as they named their next baby after her.


End file.
